Subway continues to deal with the public relations fallout from their $5 Footlongs. The trouble started when Matt Corby decided to measure one of the "Footlongs" and, to his chagrin, realized the featured sandwiched were literally coming up short. Corby took his discovery to Facebook and posted a photo on the chain's page. The photo resulted in thousands of "Likes" and comments from Subway fans all over the world.
Subway, to its credit, addressed the issue. The chain told Corby, "[T]his bread is not baked to our standards."
Subway is also saying the length of the bread is apt to change when it is being baked. This is nothing new. Go into McDonald's and, when ordering a Quarter Pounder, The menu featured behind the counter will remind you that the weight of the Quarter Pounder is "Before Cooking".
In addition to the bread's length being suspect, let's not forget American Airlines. The airline many years ago decided to remove one olive from each salad served on its flights, saving $40,000 each year. The move soon grew to removing meals altogether. Subway could regain some lost goodwill by providing food on flights to hungry passengers at a substantial (no pun intended) discount but I digress.
Many people are wondering why Corby has a vendetta against the chain. Why would someone be so upset about a sandwich being an inch shorter than advertised. It's not like Subway is the first company to advertise something that isn't exactly what it claims to be. That may be the case but what if I put it this way. If you were to go to your local subway and order a $5 Footlong and only pay $4.50, would there be a problem? If the person behind the counter said you were short, could you say, "It's only 50 cents. What's the problem?"?
Subway thought it had a way to save some money. They got caught. It's up to them to make it right.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Lance Armstrong
This week, Lance Armstrong admitted to doping and lying about it. The confession came in an interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Armstrong has joined the swelling numbers of athletes who have recently admitted to cheating in order to help them achieve impressive statistics, victories, honors, accolades and the multi-million dollar endorsements that usually come with them. Armstrong successfully eluded monitoring agencies and their testing methods for years. After retiring, Armstrong felt the need to come clean about the, "one big lie that I repeated a lot of times."
The success that Armstrong enjoyed was not without it cost, which of course did not befall Armstrong but the countless interlopers and bystanders who had the audacity to question his tactics and means, including suing or threatening to sue people if he felt his secret was in danger of being exposed.
Since Armstrong's confession, the sports world has responded with considerable backlash. People all over have called him names I am not going to write here.
Cheating is as old as the games where the cheating is taking place. There are always different names for them: performance enhancement, looking for an advantage. Some feel it's poor sportsmanship. Others think it's legal until someone gets caught. Red Auerbach was notorious for turning off the hot water in the visitor's locker room. The visitor's locker room was too small and cramped. Auerbach did it as means of intimidation and getting an advantage. Today, there would be grievances filed with the players' union.
Cheating means something wasn't on the up and up. The game was tarnished. The record is not legit. The player still has the money and, except in the NCAA, the team still has the championship.
So what. What is it the fans have lost by knowing Lance Armstrong cheated. What was so valuable and dear that was invested by the fans by watching a race or a game. How do they feel they have been cheated? What have they lost?
Nothing. Lance Armstrong was stripped of his Tour de France titles and the bronze medal he won in the 2000 Olympics. So what? The guy who won fourth now gets a bronze for something that happened over 10 years ago?
Lance Armstrong made himself look foolish by denying what people suspected all along. Is he going to have to give back the millions of dollars he got in endorsements? Will there be fines to be paid to the Olympics, Livestrong, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and the other teams and organizations he lied to? Probably not. He will fade back into his private life with his millions of dollars. He will move on with his life while countless other people will shake their heads and act as if Lance Armstrong owes them something because he cheated and lied. He humiliated himself. Hopefully that will be enough of a lesson before the next person thinks about cheating.
Armstrong has joined the swelling numbers of athletes who have recently admitted to cheating in order to help them achieve impressive statistics, victories, honors, accolades and the multi-million dollar endorsements that usually come with them. Armstrong successfully eluded monitoring agencies and their testing methods for years. After retiring, Armstrong felt the need to come clean about the, "one big lie that I repeated a lot of times."
The success that Armstrong enjoyed was not without it cost, which of course did not befall Armstrong but the countless interlopers and bystanders who had the audacity to question his tactics and means, including suing or threatening to sue people if he felt his secret was in danger of being exposed.
Since Armstrong's confession, the sports world has responded with considerable backlash. People all over have called him names I am not going to write here.
Cheating is as old as the games where the cheating is taking place. There are always different names for them: performance enhancement, looking for an advantage. Some feel it's poor sportsmanship. Others think it's legal until someone gets caught. Red Auerbach was notorious for turning off the hot water in the visitor's locker room. The visitor's locker room was too small and cramped. Auerbach did it as means of intimidation and getting an advantage. Today, there would be grievances filed with the players' union.
Cheating means something wasn't on the up and up. The game was tarnished. The record is not legit. The player still has the money and, except in the NCAA, the team still has the championship.
So what. What is it the fans have lost by knowing Lance Armstrong cheated. What was so valuable and dear that was invested by the fans by watching a race or a game. How do they feel they have been cheated? What have they lost?
Nothing. Lance Armstrong was stripped of his Tour de France titles and the bronze medal he won in the 2000 Olympics. So what? The guy who won fourth now gets a bronze for something that happened over 10 years ago?
Lance Armstrong made himself look foolish by denying what people suspected all along. Is he going to have to give back the millions of dollars he got in endorsements? Will there be fines to be paid to the Olympics, Livestrong, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and the other teams and organizations he lied to? Probably not. He will fade back into his private life with his millions of dollars. He will move on with his life while countless other people will shake their heads and act as if Lance Armstrong owes them something because he cheated and lied. He humiliated himself. Hopefully that will be enough of a lesson before the next person thinks about cheating.
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